LMU students take up budget challenge

With the deadline for Congress’ “super committee” proposals less than a week away, students majoring in economics and political science at Loyola Marymount University are trying their hand at solving the nation’s budgetary woes using a web-game called “Budget Hero.”

The Thursday, Nov. 17 event at LMU is the West Coast rollout of the web-based game, which was created as a teaching tool by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and American Public Media.

The game is online and available to the public.

Students will play the game beginning at 9 a.m. in the Charles Von Der Ahe Building, 1 LMU Drive, Westchester.

Former Rep. Jane Harman, who resigned from Congress in February to become the chief executive officer of the Woodrow Wilson Center, will discuss the game and how it was created as a tool to help people understand issues related to the national debt. Harman, faculty, students and the game’s developer will answer questions.

The game underscores the looming deadline for the congressional committee, which must report its findings Wednesday Nov. 23, followed by a vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in December.

“Budget Hero” teaches players about the budget while challenging them to cut $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit.

Players weigh the impact of their decisions on various programs, including defense, scientific research, infrastructure, farm subsidies, school aid and the environment, as well as taxes and health care for retirees, the poor and the disabled.